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Shared Myths
Starsong is a wild world indeed, but often the realms of mortals have some shared customs, beliefs and myths. Customs Guest’s Right * If a host shares food and water with a guest, and the guest willingly accepts, it is considered utterly immoral if either party sheds blood within their shared space. * This is an Old World tradition, where defying it gets the attention of the Gods. Murdering guests makes them unhappy and any who break this right die within the week. * Many have perished before from disobeying this rule, most famously the murder of the Lord Inquisitor Bane Sorotas by the Hooded Knight. The Hooded Knight was disguised as a local ealdorman and murdered the inquisitor investigating his crimes and his entire entourage. The Hooded Knight was killed the same day by running into a posse of cannibals who ate him alive. Names * Last names are seen as a luxury by many, but nothing is stopping a family from wanting to track their ancestral history by adopting one. Many will simply just be "Of" their region or town. * Titles are awarded by lords and ladies, but anyone can be “Of” wherever. * A “Sir” is noble born while a “Ser” is awarded for great deeds and heroics. * Many places follow a certain syllabic rhythm and use of words. Karnerian names all have an “us” within. Carimasi names are often cruel nicknames borne into an actual, permanent name. * Oolacilians all have an “L” in their name. * Djaalics have short and sharp three to four letter names. * Sainites have alliterave tribal names based on their personality foretold at birth; there’s strange ones like Dawndog and Farforest, and weirder ones like Blackbean. Marriage * Marriage is a religious ceremony usually used to bind two noble houses in an alliance, but has different connotations in Aerrune and Boletaria when compared to Dawnforge * Usually performed by a Septon of the Way in Dawnforge binding (usually) two people. * Weddings in Boletaria are somewhat different, officiated by Graces in Djaal who are shamans of local spirits. * Concering the wedding day itself, it is bad luck to not allow knights, lords or ladies to come to your wedding uninvited. Tourneys are usually held for the richer families. * Like Guest's Right it is bad luck to shed blood on a wedding day. Unless you're Djaalic from a Horde, then a wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair. * These same Djaalics (typically the Kuu-Lani) are known to practice polygamy. Some Fashas and Boyars do too. The Law of Inheritance * Possibly the oddest law, but when a lord or lady passes away they can choose to enact the Law of Inheritance; they have their belongings placed in a dungeon for heroes, half-wits and fools to try to inherit their fortune and possibly join their family. * This is used often if the successors of the family are of poor moral fiber. * This way those that invoke this Law can design a dungeon to their whims and ensure only a certain type of character could possibly succeed. Slavery * Slavery is outlawed in Aerrune and Dawnforge, but not Carthus or Boletaria. * If a Dawnforger or an Aerrunean becomes a slaver, they are exiled from their homeland. * Slavers tend to find their targets in the wastes, as kidnapping those from cities will invite an investigation. * Karnerians use criminals and prisoners of war as slaves for gladiatorial games, while common slaves are the workforce. * Sainites are said to use slaves for dark sorceries and unfair death-games. * Djaalic use slaves as a labour force unlike any other in its sheer size. * Carimasi slaves are known as Thralls and treated reasonably well, they are not bound by common rules of slavery and can even marry and have children. These children are not bound to be thralls themselves. * The Black Empire of Londor are known to enslave entire ships, uncaring to their politcal missive. What these slaves are used for can only be guessed. Cragsmen * Cragsmen, due to trusting their lives on it, have many superstitions about the sea. * It is good luck to drink from the same glass, wineskin, flagon or horn when departing for the unknown. * It is good luck to have a Triton on board their ship. It is extremely bad luck if they’re a prisoner. * It is bad luck to refuse safety to a Triton. * Whistling encourages wind, but beckons a storm * Every magic caster needs someone watching them in a fight. * It is good luck to get tattoos of Azarus, the Earth God, so that he will wash you ashore should you fall overboard. The Sea Mother Zamanthras finds this disrespectful, so cragsmen must hide these tattoos. * Every port-town and coastal city has a shrine to Zamanthras. This is the last place a cragsman visits when leaving and the first place when they arrive. * The only time it’s okay to sing sea shanties on land is if the singer has a vial of seawater with them. * Cragsmen do not talk about the families or loved ones while at sea; this makes the Sea Mother jealous. * Cragsmen Seasworn keep track of great deeds by corresponding tattoos. * Every ship has a small animal that is special to the Sea Mother. This animal has first priority over all else. Should the animal die, the crew will follow. * You can always recognise a ship’s crew by their shanties. Dwarf and Orcs are slow and rhythmic, Elves and Tieflings are haunting, Dragonman and Triton are overlapping and maddening, Halfling and Gnome are bright and cheery, and humans are as wide and as varied as the sea. The Shroud * The name for the last rite performed by Gevrauchians on the newly dead. * It is bad luck to use this salute on any time other than when burying the dead. * The shroud salute is simply passing a hand over your eyes and mouth, mimicking the closing of the eyes of a newly dead man. Pantheons The Way of Light * A collection of human gods typically worshipped by Dawnforgers. * These are only the New Gods, those established during the Darkness and later realized as the most common pantheon for humanity. * Comprised of the Allfather, Bellona, Talanas, Gevrauche, Freyja, Mellitie, Durin, Velka and the Changebringer. * The Raven Queen was once recognised but given her death she was replaced by husband Gevrauche. * Velka is the only Elder God of Darkness that belongs in the Way as she represents the punishment and penance rather than the sin itself. The New Gods * The New Gods encompass the idea of the Keepers, who are neither good nor evil but lawful or chaotic The Primordial * Zamanthras, The Flayed God and Crythnul. * Zamanthras, the First God to who her form encompasses every ocean, every depth and everything within. * The Flayed God, to whose skin was stretched thin atop Zamanthras, forming the lands, trees, rock and mountains. * Crythnul, whose ballads created leaping beasts, creatures and its mysteries Monotheisms * Carim keeps no god but a figurehead of their belief; she is known as the Mother of Exiles and it is rare to worship her as an idol, rather choosing to worship her through action. * Karneria keeps only Daeon, the God-King, as their god and ruler. * Shicts who do practice worship only worship the Beast-God Riffid. * Jackals only worship Silf, the Mother of Sin, Lady Darkness. * Zamanthras is usually solely worshipped by Cragsmen and Tritons. Creeds * The Woodswraith are shamans who worship animals. * The House of Splendour are a cult worshipping the material. * The Sons of the Void * Daxia keeps no god, instead choosing to rule as a godless theocracy where they worship the strength and willpower of man rather than the gods. * Sainites keep a thousand gods, each different facets of existence. This rule of living is only known as the Udun. * The Drow of the Black Empire of Londor are believed to worship a singular idea or concept rather than a god. * The Deepwater Cragsmen worship the Deep, a pantheon of animals with rather sinister connotations. Crimes and Punishment The Law * Laws and rules will always depend on the region you find yourself in. * In some lands they operate by the “Law of Retribution” meaning that you “Face unto yourself what you deal unto others.” * Dawnforge operates under the Collection, a system of rules created by the Inquisition. These often leave rules of men to lords of the land, while the rules of magic are governed by them. * When matters of lords and ladies are brought to court, the Inquisition are called. * The Inquisition have several orders; Ordo Xenos, Hereticus to name some. They deal with men and metal, the Venarium with magic and monsters. * Many lords have their own justice, and differ from Ostora to Stygia and everywhere between. Crimes * Because of regeneration and resurrection, murder and mutilation is dealt with differently. * Victims can be resurrected if their family has the coin, but the murderer is still dealt with justly. * Dealing with criminals depends on where you are in the world, but the greatest crimes of all remain the same; murder, treason and assault. The very worst crime of all is defying the laws of magic, however you do so. * That is where the Venarium come into play. What they do to heretics is unknown. Punishment * Murderers and the treasonous are typically privately executed, cremated into ash where the ash is salted with Dimeritium dust and placed in an unmarked urn in a non-existent catacomb. * This prevents resurrection, no matter how hard others may try. * In Boletaria, public executions and mutilations are common. Open wounds are salted with Dimeritium and Kraytviper to prevent magical regeneration for a dozen years at least. * In Dawnforge, traitors, thieves and murderers are placed in Tower Retribution, a black cell where nobody has ever escaped from. * In the Crawling City of the Waste, criminals are granted the Toss. They are tossed off the side by a giant. If they live, they live. If they die, they do not live. * In Paradiso the Law of Retribution means that anyone can respond to a crime in equal or worse measure. This leads to blood feuds lasting for generations.